decades. that and more at 6:00. >> caption colorado, llc comments@captioncolorado.com & >> pelley: tonight, an intelligence coup for iran. it shows off one of america's most sophisticated spy planes and u.s. officials tell cbs news it's real. bob orr has the latest. another deadly shooting at virginia tech. >> do not leave this room until you're told, you understand? >> pelley: the school goes on lockdown. elaine quijano is on the scene. for the first time, the e.p.a. links the oil and gas drilling method calling fracking to the pollution of groundwater. >> right now i don't know if i'm poisoning my family or if i'm not. >> pelley: and jim axelrod on a legacy of the war in iraq. the simple tool that saved thousands of american lives. captioning sponsored by cbs

>> pelley: good evening. tonight, a u.s. official tells cbs news there is "high confidence" that a captured american aircraft shown on iranian television is, in fact, one of this country's most sophisticated spy planes. the pentagon declined to comment but the american official says analysis of the video now confirms the r.q.-170 unmanned drone was captured. we asked bob orr to bring us up to date. >> reporter: the aircraft presented as the unmanned u.s. surveillance drone appeared to be nearly intact, though the undercarriage was obscured by propaganda banners draped below the wings. the message on the left proclaimed "america cannot do any harm to us" and on the right, against a background of american flags and skulls, the message read "we have trampled on america." u.s. officials still studying the video are convinced the aircraft is the stealth drone reported lost over the weekend.

but the pentagon declined to comment; spokesman george little citing intelligence concerns. >> we did have a u.a.v. go missing. but, you know, when it comes to the sensitive reconnaissance missions, we call them sensitive for a reason. >> reporter: military officials igiginally said controllers lost contact with an r.q.-170 drone as it flew over western afghanistan, but sources say the spy plane was actually on an intelligence-gathering mission deep inside iran. the stealth drones, capable of sending back real-time screaming video, have been used for several years to monitor iran's nuclear sites and search for other covert operations. u.s. officials have denied iran's shifting claims that the drone was either shot down or commandeered by a cyber attack, but the displayed aircraft showed no signs of a crash impact, meaning it came down in a relatively flat, controlled descent. u.s. officials can not explain how the plane landed apparently undamaged.

iran now says it will exploit its propaganda prize by reverse engineering the classified systems and sensors. a weapons expert joseph cirincione says that may prove difficult. >> you can get dimensions, you can get chemical composition, but it's very hard to duplicate the performance of the parts you're trying to reverse engineer. >> reporter: still, the u.s. is clearly concerned that some secrets could be compromised. sources say they were so worried, in fact, scott, officials considered launching a mission to either recover or destroy the downed drone but in the end concluded there was no workable option. >> pelley: bob, it doesn't look like there's a scratch on the plane. i wonder, what can the iranians do with it? >> well, they can learn plenty. they might learn how the drones are constructed, more about how we control them, and even more about the data collection, the storage, the transmission systems and all of that can be used for strong political leverage and shared with china, russia and other u.s. adversaries. >> pelley: bob, thanks very much. the first reports of shots fired at virginia tech university today sent a shudder through the

newsroom. in 2007, the campus was the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern u.s. history. today, two people were killed, including a police officer. we rushed elaine quijano to blacksburg, virginia, and she is there tonight. elaine? >> reporter: scott, officials here are in mourning tonight. this is the first time a virginia tech campus police officer has been killed in the line of duty. virginia tech's campus was on lockdown and high alert for more than four hours. swat teams and heavily armed police swept into campus buildings and ordered students to stay indoors. >> do not leave this room until you're told. do you understand? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: it started when a gunman approached a campus police officer conducting a traffic stop. witnesses say the gunman immediately fled. freshman juliette fielding saw what happened next. >> then the police pulled up and they opened his car door and when they opened it he just fell

out towards the ground-- i'm sorry-- and i could see his face and it was covered in blood-- i don't know if the blood was coming from his head or his face exactly-- and then they immediately started reviving him. >> reporter: police found another wounded person nearby. that person, who later died, is believed to be the gunman. university president charles steger: >> it's very traumatic and this brings back some difficult memories of the past. >> reporter: today's shooting took place across the street from the dorm where the 2007 virginia tech massacre began. 32 people were killed and 17 wounded by student cho sung hui before he killed himself. they were criticized for waiting too long. today the school was quick to send out text messages and e- mail alerts. >> the communications we have at our disposal today did not exist on april 16, 2007. >> reporter: and scott, the

shooting here happened as virginia tech officials were in washington, appealing a $50,000 fine that federal officials gave them because of the school's poor response to the rampage in 2007. >> pelley: elaine, thank you very much. in a scandal that has tainted another university, former penn state coach jerry sandusky was released from jail today after posting $250,000 in bail. he's been ordered to stay home and wear an electronic monitor. sandusky was charged yesterday with sexually abusing two more boys. that makes ten now. a grand jury report says one of them screamed to sandusky's wife for help as he was being attacked in the basement. but in a statement today, dottie sandusky said her husband is innocent and the accusers are making up their stories. in the presidential campaign, president obama fired back today at republican opponents who criticized his foreign policy using words like "timid, weak,

and appeasement." >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken out in the field whether i engage in appeasement. or whoever's left out there. ask them about that. >> pelley: the president had a sharp answer when he was asked whether congress will extend the current payroll tax cut, which expires december 31. norah o'donnell is at the white house tonight. norah? >> reporter: scott, it was interesting to hear president obama say today that his personal frustration level with congress is off the scale. today he was combative, he was unwielding, vowing to fight congress, those republicans, tooth and nail in order to get extensions passed on his payroll tax cut as well as unemployment insurance, even if it means canceling his christmas vacation. >> we are going to stay here as long as it takes to make sure

that the american people's taxes don't go up on january 1 and to make sure that folks who desperately need unemployment insurance get that help. and there's absolutely no excuse for us not getting it done. >> reporter: now, the president's advisors say they are at least pleased that now most republicans support this payroll tax cut measure that would put about a thousand dollars in the pockets of 160 million americans. at issue is the president's insistence that this tax cut be paid for with a tax hike on millionaires. that is something that republicans adamantly oppose. now, today president reminded everybody that there are just 23 days left until this tax cut expires and, scott, believing that most americans are on the president's side, the white house today dared republicans to have the political courage to go home without getting this done. >> pelley: the president in campaign mode. norah, thank you very much. iowa voters are getting bombarded with campaign ads. the republican caucuses there

are less than four weeks away. wherever you live, you're going to be bombarded soon enough, and you're going to be seeing a lot of ads sponsored by so-called super pacs. they are political action committees on steroids made possible by a recent supreme court decision. they're able to collect unlimited funds and keep their donors secret. and one of their ads-- this one for mitt romney-- will start airing in iowa tomorrow. --tonight. we asked wyatt andrews to tell us what the super pacs are doing to change the campaigns. >> mitt romney turned around dozens of american companies. >> reporter: you might think this t.v. ad came straight from the mitt romney campaign, but it didn't. it came from "restore our future," the super pac supporting mitt romney. >> restore our future inc. is responsible. >> reporter: this ad for rick perry, same story. it's not from his campaign but from "make us great again." the super pac supporting perry.

for the first time in a presidential campaign, multimillion-dollar super pacs will fund a political ad near you, thanks to a 2010 supreme court decision saying corporations and unions have a first amendment right to spend unlimited money on causes or candidates. all of the major candidates have a super pac behind them. >> president obama... >> reporter: including president obama, with priorities u.s.a. what's different is there's still a $2,500 limit on donations to a candidate's campaign, but no donation limits to a super pac. that allowed hollywood executive jeffrey katzenberg to give $2 million to the super pac allied with the president and let hedge fund manager john paulson give $1 million to the super pac behind romney. >> they are vehicles for corrupting our democracy. >> reporter: fred wertheimer of democracy 21, a nonpartisan group working to abolish

super pacs, calls them dangerous. a million-dollar contribution can buy influence and it can buy results. >> reporter: legally, the campaigns and super pacs are not allowed to coordinate, but the wall between the two can be thin. the romney super pac is run by carl forti, his former political director. perry's by mike toomey, his former chief of staff. the president's was created by a former spokesman, bill burton. >> as much as i love my friends in the white house and president obama, me and the people who i work with are taking a break from seeing those people and talking to those folks, and there is no coordination. >> reporter: today the pro- romney super pac bought $3 million worth of ads in iowa without consulting the campaign. but they did this exactly when romney needed the most help against newt gingrich. scott, this is just a preview of how the big donors behind these super pacs are trying to

sway the 2012 campaign. >> pelley: a big change in the campaigns. >> reporter: yeah. >> pelley: wyatt, thank you very much. the unemployment picture is showing more tentative signs of improvement. the labor department reported today that the number of americans putting in their first claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to 381,000. that's the smallest number since february. congress grills jon corzine about a billion dollars in missing money. america's roads-- safer than ever. and the government says fracking may be polluting groundwater. when the "cbs evening news" continues. groundwatercc1: when "cbs evening news" continues. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain,

think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain... two pills can last all day. ♪ tuajtibest [ th l ] ♪ ♪ i can't breathe... so i can't sleep...

and the next day i pay for it. i tried decongestants... i tossed & turned... i even vaporized! and then i fought back: with drug-free breathe right advanced. these nasal strips instantly opened my nose, like a breath of fresh air. i was breathing and sleeping better! [ female announcer ] exercise your right to breathe right... get two free strips at breatheright.com. hey, it's your right to breathe right! to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! and get a cold... ...you need a cold medicine with a heart.

only coricidin hbp has a heart, right here. it's the only cold and flu brand that won't raise your blood pressure. coricidin hbp. powerful cold medicine with a heart. >> pelley: former new jersey senator jon corzine returned to the capitol today, though not voluntarily. he was subpoenaed to testify about the collapse of the wall street firm he ran, m.f. global. corzine was asked about the $1.2 billion in customer money that is still missing. >> i simply do not know where the money is or why the accounts have not been reconciled today. >> pelley: a lot of people who want to know where the money is are farmers who had accounts with m.f. global as a hedge against falling crop prices. we asked cynthia bowers to find these latest victims of wall street failure. >> reporter: washington, iowa, is 1,500 miles from wall street,

but if you want to see the damage done by the m.f. global collapse, look no further than the brenneman pork farm. >> just waking up one morning, and now you're $400,000 shorter than you were the day before. >> reporter: adam hocher handles the finances for this farm that raises soybeans, corn and hogs. when m.f. global filed for bankruptcy, among the 38,000 commodities clients were farmers shocked to find out funds set up to pay for feed and seed were raided. it's believed m.f. global used that money to cover it own losses. do you feel like you were robbed? >> we were robbed, and until we get that money back, it's missing. somebody came in, opened your safe, took your money and they're gone. in this event, we know exactly who took our money. it was m.f. global. >> reporter: farmers use firms like m.f. global to hold money they need as collateral for future purchases of supplies, crops and livestock. federal law requires these accounts be held separate from the money firms use for investing. many farmers thought this

arrangement was as safe as their local bank. in this case, it wasn't. farms are missing millions of dollars. some are now having trouble paying for seeds to plant in the spring. hocher believes his operation will be able to weather this disaster, but worries about some of his neighbors. >> a lot of operations may not be able to stand whatever the loss might be. if it's not a risk you're expecting, how do you protect yourself from it? >> reporter: so if you could run into jon corzine today, what would you say to him? >> it would be a bad day for jon corzine. he reporter: there are plenty of others in this part of the country who feel the same way. investigators estimate at best farms can only expect to recover 60% of their money. cynthia bowers, cbs news, washington, iowa. >> pelley: for the first time, the e.p.a. has linked the drilling method known as fracking to water pollution. that story is next.

wanson? the broth cooks trust most to make the meal folks spend all year waiting for. in stuffing and more, the secret is swanson. but to be honest, i find the omega choices overwhelming. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum, a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart to support my brain and eyes too. and these ultra-concentrated minigels are much smaller than many others. it's part of a whole new line of supplements. there's probiotic and fruit & veggie too. new pronutrients from centrum helps make nutrition possible. [ pneumatic wrench buzzing ] [ slap! slap! slap! ]

[ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums i've been so looking forward to this. when my asthma symptoms returned, my doctor prescribed dulera to help prevent them. [ male announcer ] dulera is for patients 12 and older whose asthma is not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. dulera will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. dulera helps significantly improve lung function. this was shown over a 6 month clinical study. dulera contains formoterol, which increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. dulera is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled your doctor will decide if you can stop dulera and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take dulera more than prescribed.

see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if dulera can help you breathe easier. ♪ prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made? [ '80s dance music plays ] [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. >> pelley: there's a major development tonight in the ongoing debate over fracking, a method of oil and gas drilling that has opened up vast new energy resources here in the united states and created thousands of jobs. pressurized water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to fracture rocks and improve the flow of oil and gas to the surface. but today, for the first time, the e.p.a. said fracking may be polluting vital groundwater resources in one state. here's nancy cordes.

>> reporter: in the small, arid town of pavilion, wyoming, water is a precious commodity, so the y p.a.'s findings are devastating for farmer john fenton. >> right now i don't know if i'm poisoning my family or if i'm not. >> reporter: according to the e.p.a., the groundwater supplying his well contains benzene at 50 times the maximum contamination level, methane of near saturation levels and a p.h. level of household bleach. fenton and 20 other families were warned by the e.p.a. last year not to drink or cook with their well water and to use a fan while showering. >> so we're trying to prevent the buildup of explosive gases that could maybe result in us blowing our home up. >> reporter: today the e.p.a. blamed on by-products of hydraulic fracturing. millions of gallons of water, millions of g sand, and potentially toxic chemicals are released into the earth, shattering the stone and releasing the gas for collection.

pavilion sits on a geological bed of natural gas-rich sandstone and the canadian energy giant encana owns 200 natural gas wells within four square miles. >> it'll run out of water... >> reporter: the water from louis meeks' well smells like lighter fluid. >> every time i water my yard and garden i'm spreading them chemicals all over it. >> reporter: for years, the state declined to investigate the town's complaints. the oil, gas and coal industry delivers 65% of wyoming's tax revenue and 19,000 of its jobs. what's more, land owners in the western u.s. don't own mineral rights on their own property, so they have no control over where the drills go and they receive no compensation. >> we're paying the price for them to make a profit, and i think that that's wrong no matter how you look at it. >> reporter: today wyoming's governor, matt meade, was skeptical of the e.p.a. results. >> so before we draw any conclusions one way or another we just want to make sure that

we go back, do the peer review, do more testing, more analysis, and then whatever it is, it is. >> reporter: the e.p.a. notes its findings are specific to this one case in wyoming and are not an indictment of the practice of fracking as a whole. still, it is now conducting a broader review even as the industry, which employs more than 600,000 people nationwide, insists that fracking, scott, is safe and effective. >> pelley: important industry. nancy, thank you very much. turns out, america's roads are safer than ever. the government said today that 32,885 people died in traffic accidents last year, but that's down 2.9% from 2009 and a record low. it is a simple device that has saved thousands of american lives on the battlefield. we'll show you how next.

really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure high protein. ensure! nutrition in charge! [ knock on door ] cool. you found it. wow. nice place. yeah. [ chuckles ]

the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. priority mail flat rate shipping at usps.com. a simpler way to ship. so to save some money, i trained mathis team of guinea pigs to brrow this tiny boat. guinea pig: row...row. they generate electricity, which lets me surf the web all day. guinea pig: row...row. took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to get the guinea pig: row...row. little chubby one to yell row! guinea pig: row...row. that's kind of strange. guinea pig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

♪ the weather outside is frightful ♪ ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow to notify customers. and hoe breach went undetected. next on cbs 5. >> pelley: as the war in iraq draws to a close, one of the most important lessons has >> pelley: as the war in iraq draws to a close, one of the most important lessons has come in the field of medicine. in iraq and afghanistan, wounded americans have an 88% survival rate, compared to 72% in vietnam. we asked jim axelrod to find out why. >> we need a litter! >> reporter: while it may be hard to look at all this carnage

and draw something good... >> it's phenomenal what we've accomplished. >> reporter: that's exactly what colonel john mcmanus has done. he's the doctor who ran the last cash-- or combat support hospital-- in iraq. >> we've basically erased extremity bleeding as a cause of death on the battlefield. >> reporter: extremity bleeding, severed arms and legs. the consequences of those homemade bombs that were the most dangerous weapon employed in this war. one innovation saved thousands of lives. >> pull it off, open it up, stick it on you, tighten it up as tight as it will go and then we just twist. >> reporter: it was this simple tool, the tourniquet, that saved more lives than any high tech device developed in the last nine years. >> one of the biggest developments is when, we knew a tourniquet worked, as soon as we had that we put it out to the field. >> reporter: tourniquets became standard issue in 2006 for all troops after doctors realized that applying them to the injured limb right away

increased the chance of survival by 30%. every soldier and marine now carries one-- not just medics. >> we used to train everyone. in the military a little bit about shock and, you know, loosen clothes, raise the legs, heink water, et cetera. now we realized fundamentally they need to be trained in some medical skills. we started off, obviously, in tents. >> reporter: with the war coming to a close, colonel mcmanus has treated his last casualty, but the lessons learned here have beaten him home. >> certainly these tools we have utilized have saved lives now in dana is off tonight. it good evening. i'm allen martin. >> i'm juliette goodrich. dana king is off tonight.

it is one of the most highly trafficked websites in the world. >> but there are concerns tonight about a particular type of facebook traffic. the kind that's about to clog up the roads around the company's new digs in menlo park. mark sayre reports. >> reporter: a community meeting is just about to get under way in an hour at the bell haven senior center to discuss the facebook move a day of a 700 page environmental impact report was released to the public. a sign is being handpainted in front of the new facebook campus in the area, the thumbs up familiar to facebook users worldwide. this building formerly occupied by sun microsystems is currently approved for 3600 employees and facebook is asking it to let it expand to 9,000 employees here and at another campus across the bay front expressway. >> pa